


Divine

by Hisha



Series: Joining The Troupe [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Divine's backstory, Gen, Origin Story, Pre-Canon, That's why their pronouns are different, The Grimm present here is a different incarnation from the one we see in game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24181600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisha/pseuds/Hisha
Summary: How Déa met Grimm and decided to become Divine
Series: Joining The Troupe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745296
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Divine

**Author's Note:**

> My personal headcanon about Divine is that her ability to upgrade and fix things into better versions of themselves isn't limited to your fragile charms. I ended up basing this whole backstory fic on this because I do what I want

Déa's path had been set for her the moment she was born. This was just how things were here for everyone.

She hated it. Staying in the same underground home forever could be worse ; it was quite comfortable a place to live in. She just felt like she was wasting her skills here.

While everyone else was busy, she snuck out of the mound and into the graveyard right outside, just to do something for its own sake and not because it was expected of her.

She crawled past the pristine, well-maintained part and went straight to the older, not as well-maintained part. No-one still alive today remembered those buried there, so no-one ever visited them. Because of this, the gravekeepers had been neglecting this section for at least as long as Déa had been alive. It must have been way longer than this given the state those gravestones were in.

Everything was covered in moss, making the stones that weren't broken or straight-up missing (maybe they'd been scavenged and re-used elsewhere?) unreadable.

She looked at all this mess and smiled. That was her day sorted, and many others too.

She set to work immediately, scrapping the moss and picking up broken pieces. She would need to come back the next day with tools and mortar, and find something to replace the missing stones with, and nobody could tell her this was someone else's job since no-one else was doing it. This was perfect!

They would still say this kind of work wasn't fit for her, but this was exactly why she wanted to do it.

Over the next few days, Déa went back to fix the ancient graveyard every opportunity she had.

One night, as she was placing a brand new stone over a now unmarked grave, the shifting wind brought her the smell of... something burning?

She turned around to see where it came from and, instead of fire or smoke, she saw a tall creature with huge, glowing scarlet eyes.

“Thank you for fixing my old caretaker's grave”, they said in a very raspy voice.

Déa wanted to offer them some water but she had forgotten to bring any with her.

“Your...?” she asked instead. “I've never seen you here. No-one's come here in forever. Except me.”

“It has been... a long time... since I visited. Are you the one who fixed those other graves?”

The stranger indicated the other gravestones Déa had worked on with a movement of their head. She nodded and they continued :

“I must admit I am quite impressed with what you managed to accomplish with no thumb. These look even better than they did when freshly constructed.”

“You say this like... like you were there when they were freshly constructed.”

“I was”, they stated.

“This was centuries ago!”

“So?”

Déa tried and failed to find her words.

“I am deeply sorry”, the stranger said after a moment of silence, “I forgot my manners. I am Grimm. Who are you? You do not look like a worker.”

“I'm Déa! I'm not a worker. I just like fixing things. And no-one was fixing these.”

“Tell me Déa, how much do you know about the kingdom that existed before your nest?”

“There was a whole Kingdom? No-one told me. No-one tells me anything.”

“...I see. Well, these graves you have been fixing seem to be most of what's left of it. Every kingdom falls eventually. Everything fades from living memory. I travelled the old kingdom's ruins and witnessed the new one's infancy. When it falls too, we shall be there.”

“'We?'” Déa repeated.

She had many other questions ; this one simply got out of her mouth the fastest.

Grimm disappeared, then reappeared next to her in a puff of red smoke. Their eyes fixated on the grave, they kept talking :

“Your passion is visible in your work.”

“I did say I liked fixing things. I'm very good at it! Give me anything! I'll fix it better than ever! But no-one cares.”

“Because this is not what you're 'supposed' to do?” they guessed.

Déa sighed.

“I'm supposed to... make babies. And... It's not that I don't want to be a mother ever. I just want to be and do other things too! I don't want to be limited by- Wait, why am I telling you this?”

“I guess you needed to get it out. Sometimes confiding in a stranger can be easier than in someone you see everyday.”

“You must be right.”

Déa picked up her toolbox (which was actually a basket full of various tools she had stolen from different places of the Nest over the years) with one claw and asked Grimm if they had thumbs. They opened their wings (which were wrapped around their body like a tight cloak) just slightly to show their hands, which did have thumbs.

“So you can help me carve the name!” Déa exclaimed, giving her basket of tools to the other. “You know the name, right? Carve it!”

“Do you order around every stranger you meet?” Grimm asked, amused.

They still took the basket and looked inside for the proper carving tools.

“I don't see many strangers. I see none at all. Except you!”

The one with the scarlet eyes smiled and started carving the appropriate name on the gravestone.

“Can you really fix anything?” they asked while working.

“If it's inanimate, I can make it better.”

“It would be a shame to let your talents go to waste”, Grimm stated, finishing a letter, “but...”

Déa encouraged them to go on. They did one more letter before speaking again :

“I could offer you to join the Grimm Troupe and abandon your old life to begin anew. Any group needs at least one person who can fix whatever is broken. But first, I have to make sure you understand what such a choice would truly entail.”

“Tell me then! I'm curious.”

Grimm finished carving the name and deposited the tools back in the basket. Then, they explained what the Troupe was, and that joining the service of the Nightmare's Heart meant leaving your past life behind.

“Good”, Déa said. “I'll join! It sounds more interesting than staying here and lay eggs all day.”

“Are you certain this is what you want? You will have to leave behind everyone you've ever known. Even if you did see them again, they will not be able to recognise you.”

“They never cared about me. I don't even like them. Let's go!”

Grimm suppressed a laugh. They agreed to bring her to their realm so she could see if she liked it. She could still change her mind if she didn't. Déa already knew she wouldn't change her mind, though. Her decision was already made. She was already thinking about what her Grimm Troupe identity should be. She wouldn't just upgrade and repair inanimate things anymore : she would create an improved version of herself. Wouldn't that be the best craft of all?

When Grimm teleported Déa to the Nightmare Realm, they were welcomed by the two Grimmsteeds and a group of Grimmkins cleaning the tent. The Master introduced the potential recruit to everyone. She smiled widely the whole time, and she kept smiling as she was given the tour of the tent. And also asking a lot of questions.

“Can I have my own tent? Do I have to get a mask too? Can it only cover half my face so I can still eat? Is this tent bigger on the inside?”

“The answer to all of these questions is 'yes'”, Grimm replied.

“Good. I want to be called Divine!”

“I take it you've already made up your mind.”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“You should sleep on it first. Then if you're still certain about this... I will prepare your welcoming ceremony.”

“I can't wait!”

The Troupe Master ordered the Grimmkins to prepare a place for their future member to sleep in. After the welcoming ceremony, they would start working on a more permanent room.

Déa definitely looked happier here than she was back at the ancient graveyard. Grimm had rarely seen anyone show this much certainty in their decisions. If she could keep it up, she would quickly become a truly irreplaceable part of the Troupe.


End file.
